Editions

If you're interested in the Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) and how it can simplify migrating existing workloads to use cloud platform services, then this series might be for you. In this post, we use the container tools in Visual Studio to debug why a newly-containerised service is not working.

C# 11.0 adds various improvements to string literals. In this post, Ian explains how raw string literals can make your code more readable.

Learn how accessibility-aware API design creates a great experience for all developers, not just those with accessibility needs.

Here are some of the highlights form this year's Big Data LDN conference.

Great, so I've configured my Lake Database in Azure Synapse Analytics. But since I'm using parquet-backed files, my column names aren't very user-friendly. I also have these calculated columns incorporating business logic that I'd like to query on the fly rather than persist them to backing data. I also want to give specific end-users access to this database and provide them with pre-defined reporting queries to get them up and running as quickly as possible. How can I do this? Enter Custom Objects in Lake Databases - now you can create VIEWs, Stored Procedures, USERs (amongst other objects) in what used to be a read-only database. This article explores the customization options and how it can help you organize your reporting data in Azure Synapse Analytics

Lake Databases in Azure Synapse Analytics are just great. If you're starting on a new Synapse Analytics project, chances are you can benefit from Lake Databases. Whether you need to analyze business data from Dataverse, share your Spark tables of data with SQL Serverless, or use Database Templates to visually design and define your standardized/semantic analytical data model, there's a use-case for you. In this blog we'll explore what Lake Databases are, why they're useful, and what you need to watch-out for when using them.

Jessica joined endjin as part of the Software Engineering Apprenticeship 2021 cohort. In this post, Jessica reflects on her first year.

Liam joined endjin as part of the Software Engineering Apprenticeship 2021 cohort. In this post he looks back on his fist year and uses the post to introspect and look ahead to his second year.

Eli joined endjin as part of the Software Engineering Apprenticeship 2021 cohort. In this post she reflects on her first year.

If you're interested in the Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) and how it can simplify migrating existing workloads to use cloud platform services, then this series might be for you. In this post, we use the container tools in Visual Studio to debug why a newly-containerised service is not working.

If you're interested in the Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) and how it can simplify migrating existing workloads to use cloud platform services, then this series might be for you. In this post, we continue working with the excellent Dapr Traffic Control sample application to adopt a containerised dev inner-loop using Visual Studio.

If you're interested in the Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) and how it can simplify migrating existing workloads to use cloud platform services, then this series might be for you. In this post, we continue modifying the excellent Dapr Traffic Control sample application by swapping the MQTT-based messaging with Azure Storage Queues. We will also look at how you can use the Dapr programming model as an alternative to cloud-provider SDKs.

In this post, we look at 5 lessons that we learnt from a recently completed Power Automate project that helped us to get the best out of the platform.

If you're interested in the Distributed Application Runtime (Dapr) and how it can simplify migrating existing workloads to use cloud platform services, then this series might be for you. In this post, we use the container tools in Visual Studio to debug why a newly-containerised service is not working.

A short rundown of why you need the ForwardedHeadersMiddleware when using Azure Container Apps to host an ASP.NET Core MVC app requiring authentication

In the sixth and final post we draw our conclusions about migrating an application from Azure Functions to Azure Container Apps.

Great, so I've configured my Lake Database in Azure Synapse Analytics. But since I'm using parquet-backed files, my column names aren't very user-friendly. I also have these calculated columns incorporating business logic that I'd like to query on the fly rather than persist them to backing data. I also want to give specific end-users access to this database and provide them with pre-defined reporting queries to get them up and running as quickly as possible. How can I do this? Enter Custom Objects in Lake Databases - now you can create VIEWs, Stored Procedures, USERs (amongst other objects) in what used to be a read-only database. This article explores the customization options and how it can help you organize your reporting data in Azure Synapse Analytics

Lake Databases in Azure Synapse Analytics are just great. If you're starting on a new Synapse Analytics project, chances are you can benefit from Lake Databases. Whether you need to analyze business data from Dataverse, share your Spark tables of data with SQL Serverless, or use Database Templates to visually design and define your standardized/semantic analytical data model, there's a use-case for you. In this blog we'll explore what Lake Databases are, why they're useful, and what you need to watch-out for when using them.

The "Shared Metadata Model" is a powerful feature within Synapse Analytics that synchronizes Spark database objects with SQL Serverless. This article describes how to give non-admin users access to these synchronized objects in a least-privileged manner.

Serverless data architectures enable leaner data insights and operations. How do you reap the rewards while avoiding the potential pitfalls?

There is a new service in town that promises to transform the way you query the contents of your data lake. Azure Synapse Analytics comes with a new offering called SQL Serverless allowing you to query your data on-demand with no need for pre-provisioned resources.When we heard about the new service we were keen to get involved, so for the last 10 months we've been working with the SQL Serverless product group to provide feedback on the service and to help ensure it meets our customers needs. During this time we've put it through it's paces by implementing a range of real-world use cases. We were particularly interested to see how it stacked up as a replacement for Data Lake Analytics, where to date there has been no clear and easy migration path.

Have you or are you about to invest in Azure Databricks? If so, the new Spark offering in Azure Synapse Analytics is likely to have grabbed your attention and rightly so. Why is Microsoft putting yet another Spark offering on the table and what does it mean for you?

Great, so I've configured my Lake Database in Azure Synapse Analytics. But since I'm using parquet-backed files, my column names aren't very user-friendly. I also have these calculated columns incorporating business logic that I'd like to query on the fly rather than persist them to backing data. I also want to give specific end-users access to this database and provide them with pre-defined reporting queries to get them up and running as quickly as possible. How can I do this? Enter Custom Objects in Lake Databases - now you can create VIEWs, Stored Procedures, USERs (amongst other objects) in what used to be a read-only database. This article explores the customization options and how it can help you organize your reporting data in Azure Synapse Analytics

In this second blog in the series, we put the newly released Azure Synapse Analytics Database Templates into action by exploring the different methods that are available to create a semantic model.

Lake Databases in Azure Synapse Analytics are just great. If you're starting on a new Synapse Analytics project, chances are you can benefit from Lake Databases. Whether you need to analyze business data from Dataverse, share your Spark tables of data with SQL Serverless, or use Database Templates to visually design and define your standardized/semantic analytical data model, there's a use-case for you. In this blog we'll explore what Lake Databases are, why they're useful, and what you need to watch-out for when using them.

Jessica joined endjin as part of the Software Engineering Apprenticeship 2021 cohort. In this post, Jessica reflects on her first year.

Liam joined endjin as part of the Software Engineering Apprenticeship 2021 cohort. In this post he looks back on his fist year and uses the post to introspect and look ahead to his second year.

Here are some of the highlights form this year's Big Data LDN conference.

When implementing OpenChain, understanding the specification will help guide your organisation to having processes in place to review and manage open-source software

The key risks associated with open-source software, from whether you use it minimally, to using it throughout all your systems.

With much of the modern world is built upon software, organisations need to understand and manage the legal and security risks associated with open-source software.

C# 11.0 adds various improvements to string literals. In this post, Ian explains how raw string literals can make your code more readable.

Learn how accessibility-aware API design creates a great experience for all developers, not just those with accessibility needs.

Performing lazy and/or just-once initialization is a simple optimization. But what if the initialization is async?

Monetizing your APIs is a complex challenge; creating your business, revenue, & pricing model, then translating into a technical implementation requires significant investment. Working with the Azure API Management team we provide guidance, videos and code to help accelerate your journey.

Some of my thoughts inspired whilst helping out on the farm over the weekend. What is the future of work given the increasing presence of machines in our day to day lives? In which situations can AI deliver greatest value? How can we ease the stress of digital transformation on people who are impacted by it?

Serverless data architectures enable leaner data insights and operations. How do you reap the rewards while avoiding the potential pitfalls?

Some of my thoughts inspired whilst helping out on the farm over the weekend. What is the future of work given the increasing presence of machines in our day to day lives? In which situations can AI deliver greatest value? How can we ease the stress of digital transformation on people who are impacted by it?

Wishing Azure Synapse Analytics had support for SQL notebooks? Fear not, it's easy to take advantage rich interactive notebooks for SQL Pools and SQL on Demand.

Tracking down unexpected allocations in a high-performance .NET parsing library.

This is a summary of the sessions I attended at SQLbits 2022 in London, which is Europe's largest expert led data conference.

Some of my thoughts inspired whilst helping out on the farm over the weekend. What is the future of work given the increasing presence of machines in our day to day lives? In which situations can AI deliver greatest value? How can we ease the stress of digital transformation on people who are impacted by it?

Summary of key themes from the Doing Data Together conference hosted virtually by The Scotsman newspaper and Edinburgh University in November 2020. The conference agenda was pivoted to focus on the use of data to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. It provided a fascinating insight into the lessons learned.

When implementing OpenChain, understanding the specification will help guide your organisation to having processes in place to review and manage open-source software

The key risks associated with open-source software, from whether you use it minimally, to using it throughout all your systems.

With much of the modern world is built upon software, organisations need to understand and manage the legal and security risks associated with open-source software.

Here are some of the highlights form this year's Big Data LDN conference.

This blog post explores an exciting, hidden new feature in DAX - the EVALUATEANDLOG function. EVALUATEANDLOG brings debugging capability to Power BI.

In this post we will talk through how to expand on a data team's creative skillset, without access to specialist photo editing software such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

When implementing OpenChain, understanding the specification will help guide your organisation to having processes in place to review and manage open-source software

The key risks associated with open-source software, from whether you use it minimally, to using it throughout all your systems.

With much of the modern world is built upon software, organisations need to understand and manage the legal and security risks associated with open-source software.

Monetizing your APIs is a complex challenge; creating your business, revenue, & pricing model, then translating into a technical implementation requires significant investment. Working with the Azure API Management team we provide guidance, videos and code to help accelerate your journey.

Microsoft recently shot a video interviewing endjin co-founder, Howard van Rooijen, and Director of Engineering, James Broome, about how Microsoft has helped endjin grow over the past decade. This posts the top 10 ways in which Microsoft helped - from providing access to valuable software and services, to opening up sales channels, to helping to navigate the minefield of UK Financial Services regulations around cloud adoption.

In this post we discuss the characteristics of a great FinTech startup, and the importance of the API Economy to innovation in Financial Services.

Total cost of ownership can be used a various stages in the lifecycle of a digital asset to support data driven decisions.

There is a broad spectrum of costs that a digital asset will accrue over its lifetime, which will typically span many years.

Understanding the total cost of ownership is key to making informed decisions about technology investments.

In this post we will talk through how to expand on a data team's creative skillset, without access to specialist photo editing software such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

Field Parameters allow users to dynamically change the measure being analysed within a report. This blog post will explore how to use the new Field Parameters feature to dynamically switch between measures in a visua.

In this post we will talk through a step-by-step guide for how to design and build custom buttons in Power BI. We'll start with the basic foundations of shape and form, to applying icons, states, and actions with the view to extending your brand collateral across your report design and UI.

In this post we will talk through how to expand on a data team's creative skillset, without access to specialist photo editing software such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

Field Parameters allow users to dynamically change the measure being analysed within a report. This blog post will explore how to use the new Field Parameters feature to dynamically switch between measures in a visua.

In this post we will talk through a step-by-step guide for how to design and build custom buttons in Power BI. We'll start with the basic foundations of shape and form, to applying icons, states, and actions with the view to extending your brand collateral across your report design and UI.